Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. Today we've got the second ingame preview of our Normandy theater, featuring the Panther tank. We're also showing some Italian armour that will make its appearance in the upcoming patch.

When the western Allies first encountered the German Panther tank in Anzio in 1944, they assumed it was another heavy tank which could not be produced in great numbers, quite like the Tiger tank. When they landed in Normandy, six months later, they were shocked to find that nearly half the German tanks were Panthers. Its 80mm thick sloped frontal armour was so strong that the regular Allied M4 Sherman tank was unable to penetrate it from virtually any range. Combined with its 75mm high-velocity gun, this made the Panther a very powerful tank.

The Panther in the screenshots is an Ausf. A, the most common variant in Normandy. As you can see, we made a version with and a version without sideskirts. The Panther was made by Toddel and coded by ctz. The map it's on is a work in progress version of Mr Cheese's Operation Charnwood, of which you've already seen an ingame screenshot in the February 27th update.

The other items for today's news are the 2 new Italian tanks. Both tanks were made by Montoya for Forgotten Hope 0.7 and they were ported to Forgotten Hope 2 by Gunnie.

When Italy went to war in June 1940, its tanks were inferior to practically anything the British or Germans had. The Carro Armato M13/40, when introduced in October 1940, didn't change this. Although it was clearly a better tank than its predecessor the M11/39, it was poorly armoured, quickly caught fire when hit and usually had no radio. Nevertheless, over 700 M13/40s were shipped to North Africa to fight the British. Dispite all its shortcomings the only major differences between the M13/40 and its successor, the M14/41, wre the engine and frontal armour. More than 2000 M14/41s were produced during the war.

During Operation Compass a lot of M13/40s were captured by the allies and because of the lack of armour in fighting shape on the allied side, they were pressed into service with British tank batallions. When the Germans advanced back into Libya in early 1941 many allied M13/40s ended up with the Australians in Tobruk. Some of these tanks had kangaroos painted on them to identify them as Australian.

To help the Italian M13/40s a number of assault guns were produced, one of them being the Semovente L.40 da 47/32. This vehicle was based on the L6/40 chassis and first saw combat during the Battle of Gazala in 1942. Although inferior to its British counterparts, like most Italian tanks, it was capable of taking on the lighter British tanks. 280 Semovente L.40s were built.

That's all for this week, but be sure to come back next time for another update. Until then, feel free to visit our IRC channel and our public forums to discuss this update and other news.

Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. Today we're showing the second map that will be featured in the upcoming patch. This map, made by Bizness, is about the battle for the Tunisian Mareth Line, in March 1943.

"After the German defeat at El Alamein, Rommel's plan was no doubt to retreat back into Libya and set up another defensive line, closer to his supply ports. However, when the allies landed in Morocco and Algeria during Operation Torch, these plans were cut short and Rommel was forced to retreat into Tunisia and attempt to defeat the two allied armies seperately."

"The first clash between armies in Tunisia was at the Kasserine Pass, where the experienced German-Italian forces managed to inflict great casualties upon the unexperienced American soldiers. However, the allied army remained intact and was even advancing in the north. This forced the axis on the defensive, leaving them no choice but to dig in along the Mareth Line, awaiting the arrival of the British 8th Army."

"As the British were preparing their assault of the Mareth Line, Rommel made one last attack, aimed at disrupting British preperations and delaying their assault. The attack was a large failure however, as the German tanks rode straight into a position of well-concealed British anti-tank guns. The order to retreat was given the same day and it marks the last battle of Rommel in Africa. On March 10th he returned to Germany, never to see Africa again."

"On March 19th the attack on the Mareth Line began with Operation Pugilist. The 50th Infantry Division managed to penetrate the line near Zarat, but on the 22nd a German counterattack took back most of the bridgehead. At the same time the allies attacked the Tebaga Gap. Here, the fighting raged on for four days, but the allies were unable to make much progress against the stubborn German defenders. Operation Pugilist failed in that it did not break the German defence of the Mareth line, but it did provide a good start for the next attack."

"Operation Supercharge II was launched on March 26th. After a large bombardment the allied tanks went in. This time they did make significant progress and by nightfall they had created a gap in the axis line of defence. The next morning the German 15th Panzer Division counterattacked, but failed to stop the allied advance. By the evening of March 27th the axis forces had withdrawn from the Mareth Line."

That's all for this week, but be sure to come back next time for another update. Until then, feel free to visit our IRC channel and our public forums to discuss this update and other news.